Tray elevating device



Nov. 4, 1958 F. k. DEVLIN ETAL 2,859,083

Filed Feb. 15. 1955 INVENTORS. FRANK K. DEVLIN HENRY J. S/EMON A/ITTYORNEK Nov. 4, 1958 F. K. DEVLIN EIAL TRAY ELEVATING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 15, 1955 v N N mu M f T MW AN 2 Nov. 4, 1958 v F. K. DEVLlN ETAL 9,

TRAY ELEVATING DEVICE I Filed Feb. 15, 1955 Y 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR5. FRANK K. DEVL/N HENRY J. SIEMON ATTORNEY TRAY ELEVATING DEVICE Frank K. Devlin and Henry J. Siemon, New York, N. Y., assignors to Le Febure Corporation, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Application February 15, 1955, Serial No. 488,351

4 Claims. (Cl. 312-298) This invention relates to a tray elevating device and has particular reference to a counterbalanced device which may be mounted in a desk drawer and which is adapted to be raised and lowered at will.

. As the art and volume of business procedures has advanced, it has become more andmore desirable to maintain readily accessible control records which are constantly available to the individual. The mere mechanics of handling such records have become an increasing problem. Numerous special bookkeeping desks, files and stands of various types have been invented to meet these problems.

The records themselves have become more complex. For example, individual account, records have been expanded to a 'point where they contain not only the outstanding balance which the customer may owe, but a complete credit record pertaining to the individual and his busi-m ness dealings with others. Such records must be immediately available to credit department personnel and some protection must be afiorded such records. It therefore becomes advisable to devise means whereby such records may be stored in a desk when not required, and yet readily available when needed.

It is therefore a primary object of our invention to provide a tray elevating device which can be mounted in a desk drawer in such a manner that it may be collapsed so that the drawer may be closed, and yet elevated at will so that the operator may work with the file material.

It is another object of our invention to provide a tray elevating device which may be turned in all directions so that it may be positioned at the most convenient angle.

It is still another object of our invention to provide a device in which the tray member can be firmly locked in either the upper or lowered position.

It is yet another object of our invention to provide a device in which the tray portion is counterbalanced to permit effortless movement either up or down.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be more apparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the accompanying drawing and following specifications, wherein is disclosed a single exemplary embodiment of the invention with the understanding, however, that such changes may be made therein as fall within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In said drawings:

Figure l is a view in perspective of the tray elevating device constructed according to our invention, the device being mounted in a desk drawer.

Figure 2 is a side view of the device in an elevated position.

Figure 3 is a side view of the device in a lowered position.

Figure 4 is a view in detail of the counterbalance spring and the slide member in which it operates.

Figure 5 is a view in perspective of the locking member and its connection to the counterbalance mechanism, and

2 Figure 6 is a view in perspective showing the device in the lowered position, and is particularly intended to show the slot means by which wide adjustment may be obtained;

Referring now'to the drawings, and particularly to Figure 1 wherein a device constructed according to our invention is shown mounted in a desk drawer, we will now describe our invention.

Fastened to the bottom of. the desk drawer 10 is a base.

plate 11 which has two parallel rail members, one of which is shown at 12. Attached to the forward ends of these rail members are secondary parallel plates 13 and 14 which form a U shaped assembly. These rails and secondary plates serve to hold the counterbalanced lifting arm, such as is shown at 15.

A third. U-shaped support point is provided at time tion midway between these two rails and rearwardly of the forward supports at 16, and is similarly constructed of a rail and secondary plate which supports an elevating arm 17.

. Mounted on the three elevatingarmsis a shelf member 18 which in-turn has pivoted thereto a tray 19 which is adapted to holdjthe base of one-or more standard filedrawers. i

. It will bereadily apparent that the length of the elevating lever and 17 might be varied in proportion to the.

; depth of the drawer in which the device is to be used, and

that whatever dimension is selected will be the distance through which the tray can be elevated. The desired purpose will be to select the distance which will bring. the contents of the file drawers up to a convenientworking level which would be substantially the same as that of the height of the desk top.

Referring now to Figures 2 and 3: the nature of theeleevating arms is shown in; greater detail. 'The arms are preferably triangular in shape, the lower end of each'being pivotally mounted on the secondary plate adjacent the base rail. The other ends of the elevating armsare pivotally mounted at 2 0 and 21 to the shelf 19. The counterbalance mechanism is attached to these arms at a point' one-quarter to one-third the distance thereof above the pivotal connectionto the secondary'plate. These connections are shown at'22 and 23. It will also be noted that" they are mounted pivotally at the forward/corner of the in the secondary plate, as at-26 shown in Figure 4'.

A spring member 2'7. extends forwardly from the mounting point 26 to the end of the secondary plate' where it is fastened by an adjusting screw 28. [This spring member is adapted to be expanded as the elevating arms are lowered, and therefore serve to counterbalance the downward movement of the tray. It will be noted that the. extent of movement-of this spring member is very limited, which permits a relatively heavy spring to be used through a short operative range.

To lock the elevating arm in the lowered or raised position, we have provided a latching mechanismsuch. as is shown in Figure 5. Attached to the pivotal mount- 7 ing sleeve 26 which carries the lever.24, is a slidable bar 29 which has in its outer end the'latch member 30. To receive this latch member, we have provided an opening 31 which is cut in the rail member .12. At each end of this opening portion are slots- 32 and 33. The latch portion of the slidable member is positioned to engage either of these slots, depending upon whether the tray is at its lowered or raised position. i

To obtain the circular movement of the tray, we

2,859,083 Patented Nov. 4, 1958' have'provided a pivotal mounting bolt 34 which is positioned in the center' of the tray and fastened to the center point of I the shelf.

In addition to circular movement of the upper tray,

we have alsoprovided means .wherebylthe. tray'fmay also be moved from' side to .side and backward and This means forward in relation ,to the shelf member. comprisestwo slots. The upper slot 38 is in the tray member 19' for a short length along the length ofthe tray. The lower slot 39, shown in dotted lines, is on the the operation of the device is apparent' By movement of the latch member 30, the shelf and tray may be moved up land downthrough a considerable distance; The counterbalance mechanism which is present in all three supports, serves to carry the greater share of the load which would'be present when the file drawers were in position in the tray.

The latching mechanism may be' engaged at either end of the slot to hold the tray in a firm position against either the weight of the file drawers or the action of the counterbalance springs. The tray may' be rotated throughout 360 degrees. However, to position the tray for lowering into the desk drawer, a stop member 37 'has been provided and is mounted on the shelf, and to hold the'file draws in a firm position, a pair of L-shaped members and 36 are, attached to the tray and adapted to fit over the base of the file drawers. r

Although we have described a specific embodiment of our invention, it is apparent thatmodifications thereofmay be made-by thoseskilled in the art. Such modifications may. be made without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention as set forth in the appended claims. 7

We claim as our invention:

1. In a:tray elevating device in combination, a base member a plurality of triangular elevating arms'pivotally mounted on said base member, a shelf pivotally mounted on the upper ends of said elevating members, counterbalance members including spring bias linking means operatively connected at a point forwardly and intermediate of the aforesaid base andshelf pivotal mountings to each of said elevating members and said base member and extending rearwardly in the same plane thereof, and a locking means operatively connecting one of said elevating members and said base member.

2. In a device of the type described in combination, a base plate, a plurality of elevating arms mounted on said base plate, a shelf member mounted on the upper end of said arm members, a revolving tray mounted on i said shelf member, a counterbalance'means including 1 a spring bias lever means, one end thereof being positioned in an off-center relation on and adapted to bias said elevating arms in an upwardly and over center direction, said means extending substantially longitudi nally of said base member, and. a slide member operatively connected to one of said elevating arms and adapted to lock said elevating member in a raised lowered position at will.

3. In a device of the type described, a base plate having a pair of parallelrail members mounted on the outer edge thereof, a pair of secondary plates mounted inwardly therefrom and at one end of said rail, a third.

rail and secondary plate positioned between said outer rails and rearwardly of said first mentioned secondary 1 a triangular-shaped elevating arm] plate assembly, mounted in each of said secondary plates, a lever arm pivotally attached to: and extending rearwardly flf'qm said elevating arms said attachment being at theifo wardmost portion thereof; said lever arm being slidabig j- I mounted in said secondary plates, spring means .longiw tudinally adjacent said rail members, and adaptedf'to bias said lever .arzns' forwardly against'said elevating arms into an over-center relation therewith, .atray niem ber pivotally mounted on the upper ends of saidielevating arms, and a slidable latch means adaptedf toh engage one of said'rails and elevating arms at either extreme point of their movement.v

4. In a device of the type described, a base. Plate having a plurality of triangular shaped elevator arms pivotally mounted. on said base plate, a shelf pivotally.

mounted on the upper end of said arms, and counterbalanced. lever means positionedlongitudinally. of. base plate and adapted to elevate said lever arms at will, said lever arms being pivotally attached to said" elevator arms forwardly and intermediateiof the aforesaid base and shelf pivotal mounting to permit an over center relationship therebetween, thetray. havingla' slot extending for a portion of the length thereof, andpthe.

shelf having a corresponding slot extending for a por;

tion' of'the -.Width thereof, said pivotal mounting bei'ng; positioned to engage both of said slots so that said tray, plurality of directionsrin reference. 1

may be moved in a to saidshelf.

References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 544,821 Morrison Aug. 2Q;- 1895 1,824,822 Kradolfer Sept. 2 9, 193 1; 1,934,370 Mirabella Nov. 7, 1933.

2,161,323 Stephenson June 6, 1939;? 2,293,496 Egger p Aug.,18, 19.42, 2,531,140 Linde Nov. 21,1950 2,590,341 Nabhozz as Mar. 2 5, 

